Splendora Looks Splendid in Molly Pitcher

Mother Nature was not kind to Bob Baffert. "I was going to fly from Kentucky to New Jersey with the Spendthrift gang, but then their pilot said it would be really bad and they said no way," he said. But the weather did not faze his splendid mare Splendora. With flashes of lighting and boomers in the gray sky above Monmouth Park following a weather delay of about 20 minutes, the 5-year-old daughter of Audible relished a fast (sealed) track and romped by 5 1/2 lengths in the $500,000 Molly Pitcher Stakes (G2) on the July 18 Haskell day undercard. "She's never been on a wet track, but she is getting really good," Baffert said about the winner of last year's Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1). "She's gold right now." The Maryland-bred mare owned by Boyd Racing and By Talla Racing won for the seventh time in her last eight starts, each of them by 1 3/4 lengths or more. The lone loss was a surprising fourth as an even-money favorite in the Derby City Distaff Stakes (G1) May 2 at Churchill Downs. "She was really flat Derby Day and I don't know why. I was confused by that. She was very quiet. It was a head-scratcher. She can be silly saddling her, but that's when she shows up," Baffert said. Splendora took the suspense out of the Molly Pitcher at the start. Breaking from the outside post in a field of seven with Flavien Prat, they quickly scooted over to the rail and were ahead by 1 1/2 lengths after an opening quarter-mile in :23.88. From there, she was unchallenged, leading by 3 lengths after 6 furlongs in 1:11.83 and by a safe 5 1/2 lengths in midstretch. "You never know (about an off track). She has never seen it sloppy before," Prat said. "But she handled it well. She's a Breeders' Cup winner, a multiple grade 1 winner. She has proven that she is very talented. She has won graded stakes at one turn and two turns. With the surface, I felt I wanted to get her running to the first turn and make the lead and get her into a good rhythm. That was the game plan and that's what happened." The 3-10 ($2.60) favorite covered the mile and a sixteenth in 1:44.75. "Prat rode her like she was the best horse," Baffert said. "She has been training really well and went into the race really well." Baffert was particularly happy for owners Randy and Jenny Boyd, who are relatively new to the sport. "This was unbelievable," said Brittany Linton, CEO of Boyd Racing. "We're just so proud of her. We went into a partnership with Mike Talla and he's been an incredible partner. We're so appreciative to be here." Bred by The Elkstone Group out of the Frost Giant mare Miss Freeze, Splendora was bought as a yearling for $125,000 from the Brookdale Sales consignment at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton's The July Sale, and has nine wins in 15 starts for earnings of $1,657,700. Lost Horizon, an Into Mischief filly owned by Peter Brant and trained by Chad Brown, was second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Michael Eiserman's Nerazurri, a Protonico filly trained by Mark Casse. Baffert said he was uncertain of future plans for Splendora. "I have some ideas in my head, but I have to let her tell me what to do" he said.